GenCells Therapeutics Completes ￥10M Pre-A Round of Financing

According to VCBeat, Shanghai GenCells Therapeutics Co., Ltd. ("GenCells Therapeutics") has closed the Pre-A round of tens of millions yuan, led by Oriza Seed Capital with participation from Furong Capital. Healthcare Capital acted as the sole financial adviser for this round. Proceeds of this financing will be used to develop a number of new TIL (Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte) therapies, said GenCells Therapeutics's founder, Dr. Jin Huajun.

Founded in Shanghai in July 2019, GenCells Therapeutics is a global leading innovator of cell therapy for solid tumors, committed to developing innovative therapies based on TIL and first-in-class/best-in-class drugs, covering a variety of recurrent and refractory tumors.

TIL therapy refers to the therapy of isolating TIL from tumor tissues, cultivating them in vitro and expanding them in large quantities, and then transplanting them back into the patient's body. The effector cells of TIL therapy are tumor-specific T cells with a high proportion and rich diversity after natural selection and enrichment. Compared with the CAR-T cell therapy and PD-1 / PD-L1 antibody, TIL therapy has the advantages of multiple targets, strong targeting and infiltrating ability, and low side effects.

Due to the technical barriers of TIL therapy, such as complex extraction and cultivation techniques, few companies in China have explored in this field. The founding team of GenCells Therapeutics has successful experience in the field of cellular immunotherapy, thus has the potential to be a leading developer in cell therapy for solid tumor.

Oriza Seed, located in Suzhou Industrial Park, is held by Suzhou Oriza Holdings Ltd. It looks for investment opportunities among early-stage and growth-stage enterprises in the fields of healthcare and TMT. Oriza Seed has ample resources and experiences investing in the healthcare field. By late March 2016, Oriza Seed has invested in more than 50 healthcare companies.

Furong Capital is established by the Research Institute of Fudan University in Ningbo to support science and technology. Furong Qingyun Fund is established by Furong Capital focusing on early and middle-stage companies in the fields of life and health, intelligent manufacturing, and green technology.